


5 Times Dex Didn't Realize He was Being Hit on + 1 Time He Did

by 42hrb



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Awkward Flirting, Bad Flirting, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Oblivious Dex, POV William "Dex" Poindexter, This Is STUPID
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 23:08:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12568224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/42hrb/pseuds/42hrb
Summary: In which everyone flirts with Dex and he has no idea.ORFive times Nursey watched someone else flirt with Dex and one time Dex realized that Nursey was flirting with him.





	5 Times Dex Didn't Realize He was Being Hit on + 1 Time He Did

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually the first NurseyDex fic I started and then it just kind of sat in my docs for months. 
> 
> Huuuuge shout out to [Meg](leslieknopeismyshiningstar.tumblr.com) for cheering me along and to [Caitlin](acountrygirlisfun) for the beta. Y'all are my heroes.

**One**

College is an adjustment for everyone. Some people have to adjust to living away from their families for the first time, some people have to learn how to budget their time, some people adjust to all of the freedom they have, and if you’re William Poindexter, you have to adjust to a _chill_ , _so so chill bro_ , from a prep school who happens to be your partner on the ice.

Dex and Nursey did _not_ get along. That might be the biggest understatement since Ollie said, “I think Bitty likes baking a little.” He wasn’t being sarcastic.

But by the second half of the season they had come to a sort of unspoken agreement that they would _always_ have each other’s back on the ice. Sure they had been reluctant teammates for the first half, but after a particularly dirty hit on Nursey in a game against UConn, Dex had seen red and taken the other guy out of the game with a nearly broken nose. He had gotten ejected himself, but it had been worth it.

After that game, Nurse had come up to him, fist bumped him and given him a nod that clearly said, ‘You got my back, I got yours.’

So by the time their game against Princeton rolled around they might be spending 75% of their time bitching at or about each other off the ice, but on the ice they were a unit that moved in nearly perfect tandem. Jack had even complimented them on their growth as a pair, which didn’t make Dex smile, nope, it did not.

“Hey 24,” Number 15, who Dex was guarding said, “How about next time you pin me, it’s to a mattress?”

Dex ignored the comment, he hadn’t realized that Princeton players were willing to stoop so low to distract other players, but he wasn’t going to fall for it. The puck came up center ice and Dex skated to it, stopping the Princeton center from getting a good shot off.

Nursey slapped his ass once the puck was back on the other side of the rink, “Nice D there Poindexter.”

The game continued like most of his games with Samwell had, there were a few hits that were a little too hard, Jack played his heart out, the whole team did. It was looking like it would be an easy win midway through the 3rd period, but Princeton started to hit a little dirty.

His last play of the game Dex checked number 15 into the glass and Nursey came up behind them to get the puck down to Bitty for a chance to score.

“Come on 24, I know you can hit me harder with an ass like that,” The guy said. Dex felt his cheeks burn and was grateful that he got red whenever he played so no one could tell. This guy's distraction tactics were certainly persistent, if nothing else.

“What the hell man?” Nursey said, pinning the guy against the boards, hard, as soon as Dex let off of him to get back into the game, “Don’t fucking hit on other players in the middle of the game, that’s not cool.”

Dex skated back to the bench before the other guy could reply and climbed in, Nursey a few seconds behind him, “You didn’t have to hit that guy again, you could have gotten a penalty.”

“Asshole was hitting on you in the middle of play, of course I had to,” Nursey said, accepting the water that was passed to him, “I mean what kind of player does that? He has no chill, dude.”

“He was just trying to get into my head,” Dex said, eyes on the game, “It wasn’t a big deal.”

“He was trying to get in _somewhere_ ,” Nursey said with a snort, “I’m just not sure if it was your head.”

Instead of replying, Dex just shook his head and finished taking off his gear so he could shower before they got on the bus back to Samwell. Nurse was being stupid, there was no way that guy was hitting on him. People don’t _hit on_ him, that’s just not his life.

**Two**

“Seriously, how did you get this drunk?” Dex asked, his arm around Chowder’s waist as he and Nursey helped him back to the dorms, “You had three beers.”

“He did a few shots with Shitty,” Nursey said, his arm bumping against Dex’s as he adjusted his hold on Chowder, “And I think I saw him drinking tub juice too.”

“Only a little,” Chowder said, then he hiccupped and giggled, “You’re both sooo strong.”

“Shut up,” Dex muttered, “Let’s just get him back before campus safety sees us and writes us all up for underage drinking. That could get us suspended from the team.”

“Chill man,” Nursey said, and Dex grit his teeth, he was _not_ drunk enough to deal with drunk Chowder and Nursey, “It’ll be fine, we only have one more block.”

“Fuck the lax team!” Chowder yelled suddenly. The shock of hearing Chowder swear off the ice was enough for both Dex and Nursey to come to a stop, arms still around Chowder.

A group of lax players sat on their porch smoking what smelled like some really strong weed, music blasting inside the house, “Looks like the hockey team can’t handle their liquor bro.”

“I bet the redhead could handle something else though,” one of the other guys said with a smirk, “Yo Red, come back around here if you ever want us to show you how the big boys like to play.”

Dex didn’t say anything, he just started walking again, pulling Nursey and Chowder with him. That didn’t stop Nursey from yelling back, “Like any of you fuckers could handle a hockey player.”

“Nursey, fuck - would you move? I can’t carry Chowder all by myself, he’s heavier than he looks,” Dex said, trying to move forward and being pulled back because both Nursey and Chowder were stopped now and they both looked like they’d like to head onto the porch and kick every member of the lacrosse team’s asses.

It took a full two minutes of cajoling before Dex got both Nursey and Chowder to agree to move on,  but even as they walked away Nursey frowned. “That guy was hitting on you.”

“No,” Dex said slowly, his own thoughts sluggish from tub juice and exhaustion, “He was just trying to get a rise out of us. It _worked_ too.”

Nursey just shook his head, but didn’t say anything else as they walked back to the freshmen dorms. Chowder was asleep between them by the time they got to his room.  

**Three**

Dex really, _really_ needed to sleep. He needed a real meal and a day without practice or a game, but it was midterms and they were two weeks away from the playoffs so he’d settle for a twenty minute nap and a cup of coffee.

He blinked blearily at his laptop for a minute before looking back at Kate, his partner for the presentation he was working on, “I think if we add a slide about the ROI at the end that would be a good way to finish it.”

“Yeah, that’s a great idea,” Kate said, blinking rapidly at him, “Do you think we should add some fun slide transitions?”

“No,” Dex said, shaking his head. He didn’t want something flashy, their professor was a pretty straight laced lady, rumor had it she had made a football player cry after he added bouncing font to a presentation, “Dr. Matthews doesn’t like them.”

Kate nodded, eyes lingering a little too long on Dex for comfort, before she turned back to her laptop where they were working on the presentation.

“Poindexter,” A voice said to his left. Dex turned to see Nursey walking, well more like strutting, toward him, “You look like a walking zombie.”

“You look like you should shut the fuck up,” Dex shot back, his eyes burning with exhaustion.

“Now is that any way to treat the guy who brought you coffee and a muffin?” Nursey said, setting a cup of coffee down in front of Dex, “You gotta learn to be nicer to me baby or I might stop taking care of you.”

“Last week you broke into my dorm and stole my study guide for econ 101 and took all of the mini pies Bitty baked me for fixing the dryer,” Dex said, but he took a sip of the coffee and let out a small sigh as he did, his eyes fluttering shut.

Nursey slid into the empty seat across from Dex and said, “Maybe that’ll teach you to share the big brain with us less gifted folks.”

“Maybe you’re just lazy and I don’t want to enable you,” Dex said, but it sounded fond even to his own ears. He fought the smile that threatened to break over his face as Nursey kicked his ankle gently.

“Will,” Kate said, her voice just a little whiny as she spoke, “Can we maybe take this somewhere more quiet?”

“More quiet than the library?” Dex asked, taking another sip of his coffee and biting back a sigh. God he’s tired.

“You just seem a little distracted,” She said, shooting Nursey a look.

He looked at Nurse, who had pulled out his own laptop and was biting back a laugh. “Derek won’t bother us, he’s got his own projects to work on. Right Nursey?”

“Of course Dexy,” Nursey said with a flash of white teeth and made Dex’s neck burn, “I’ll just be over here, making no noise.”

“Pretending you don’t exist,” Dex said with a nod, earning him another smile from Nurse for understanding the reference.

Kate looked between the two of them for a moment before she put her hand on Dex’s arm and leaned closer, “So when do you want to work on the paper that goes with the presentation?”

He felt someone bump knees with him under the table and he frowned, “Nurse, stop touching me dude.”

Nursey looked up at him and said, “I didn’t touch you bro.”

Dex shook his head, he must be more tired than he thought, “We can get together after I get back from our road game this weekend, I’ll start a Google Doc so we can work on it at the same time if that works for you.”

“Yeah it does,” Kate said and Dex nodded.

She blinked a few times and leaned her head to the side in a way that couldn’t have been comfortable, “Do you have something in your eye?”

“No,” She let out a long sigh that Dex felt like he understood, he was exhausted too. “Let’s just finish the last part of the presentation and call it a day.”

Dex nodded, turning back to the screen in between them, trying to ignore Nursey, who had decided that something was funny because he was biting his hand to stop from laughing out loud. Dex aimed a swift kick at Nurse and smirked when he stopped laughing to glare.

By the time Dex left the library with Nursey two hours later he had all but forgotten about how weird Kate had been acting. He leaned heavily on Nursey as they walked through the snowy campus, Derek’s arm around his waist to help him stay up.  It had been a while since Dex was this exhausted, he almost felt drunk.

“You need to sleep more,” Nursey said, his voice more fond than anything else, “You didn’t even notice that girl was hitting on you.”

Dex stopped walking for a second to look at Nursey, “She wasn’t.”

Nursey huffed out a laugh, “Trust me bro, she was.”

“Whatever,” Dex said, continuing toward the dorms. He didn’t see Nursey roll his eyes, but he did feel the sigh that he let out. He was grateful that Nursey didn’t push the subject though, he was too tired to argue.

**Four**

Dex’s summer was pretty nonstop. He was still working on his uncle’s boat and usually when he had a few days off he found some side work at the marina, but not this weekend. Nurse and Chow were coming to visit and Dex was determined to show them a good time.

It wouldn’t be too hard since the small town where his uncle docked his boat was a tourist spot in the summer.  Nurse and Chowder were even planning on staying a couple extra days after Dex went back to work because Chowder discovered that there was a lobster festival that Monday.

“Would you look at this,” Nursey said as Dex got out of Uncle Hank’s truck and walked up onto the porch where Nursey and Chowder were sitting, “You have _more_ freckles now then when we last saw you.”

“And you’re still an ass, some things never change,” Dex shot back with a smile, allowing himself to be pulled into a hug. Nursey smelled like mint and pine needles, a scent that used to make Dex’s stress levels rise but now made him feel at home. He wasn’t going to think about that though.

“It’s good to see you dude,” Nursey said, pulling back from the hug and looking at Dex, “You grew.”

“Only  a little,” Dex said with a shrug, then he was unceremoniously tackled to the ground by Chowder. “Oh shit.”

“I can’t believe we’re all here!” Chowder said excitedly, letting Dex up, only to pull both Dex and Nursey into a bone crushing hug.

“We got beer,” Nursey said, grabbing Dex a can from the loaded cooler on the porch.

Dex hadn’t realized how much he had missed Nursey - missed _both_ of them - until the knot in his stomach started to untangle.

“So let me guess,” Dex said a few hours, and more than a few beers later. His feet were kicked into Nursey’s lap and Nursey was telling them a very animated story about his summer so far, “It was totally _chill_.”

“Well I mean, yeah,” Nursey said, running one hand through his hair and squeezing Dex’s ankle with the other, “So are we going to paint the town red tonight Poindexter?”

“Oh shit, right,” Dex said, pulling his phone out of his pocket for the first time since he’d arrived at Chowder and Nursey’s rental. Landon, his fellow crew member, was staying in the same town that weekend and he had told Dex he’d let him know where the best spots were, “My coworker says the best bars are down on Main Street.”

“S’awesome,” Chowder said, smiling drunkenly at them, rolling off the porch and pulling his phone out, “I’ll call a Lyft.”

Thirty minutes later they all got out of their ride and walked toward The Twisted Fish, a bar that Landon had recommended.

“Who told you about this place,” Nursey asked, flashing his ID at the bouncer with a charming smile that made Dex’s stomach swoop - a feeling he ignored.

“My coworker Landon,” Dex yelled over the noise of the music and crowd, “He and some of the crew come here on their days off I guess.”

Nurse leaned into Dex’s personal space to be heard and said, “What you don’t go out and let your hair down? I’m shocked.”

“I usually pick up some more work,” Dex said with a shrug, allowing Nursey to lead him to the bar, Chowder following close behind.

Nursey shook his head in a way that Dex could only call fond and squeezed Dex’s wrist before they got to the bar.

“Will!” A voice called over the noise of the bar and Dex turned to see Landon wading through the crowd to get to them, “I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things or if you were really out in public of your own volition.”

“I’m really here,” Dex said, shooting Landon a smile, “This is Derek Nurse and Chris Chow. Guys, this is Landon, we work together on my uncle's boat.”

“You could say we’re seamen,” Landon said with a laugh that made Dex want to shudder. “I’ve heard a lot about the team, it’s nice to put faces to the names.”

“Known Dex long?” Nursey asked, a smirk on his face that both charmed and made Dex nervous. The last time he had seen that smirk Nursey had tried to tell Dex that his project partner was hitting on him.

“Sure,” Landon said, looking from Dex to Nursey with a little smile on his lips, “Will and I have worked together for the last, what, four summers?”

“Yep,” Dex said, standings against the bar, his back touching Nursey’s chest.

“Let me buy you a drink,” Landon said with a smile. Dex shrugged and nodded, he wasn’t one to pass up free booze.

An hour later Dex was squeezed into a booth between Nursey and Landon, Chowder across from them. He wasn’t sure why Landon had decided to sit on the side of the booth where Nursey and Dex were already sitting, maybe he wasn’t comfortable with new people, Dex figured that had to be it with the way Landon was practically glued to his side.

“We should head back,” Dex said to Nursey, looking at Chowder, “It looks like Chow is going to fall asleep at the bar, plus we’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

“Oh, you’re leaving already?” Landon asked, sounding disappointed, like he didn’t see Dex every day on the boat, “Uh, well can I walk you home?”

“I called an Uber,” Nursey said with a shrug.

“I’ll see you Monday morning though, have fun with the rest of the guys, I think I saw them by the darts,” Dex said, slapping Landon on the shoulder before he followed Nursey and Chowder out of the bar.

Dex had planned to sleep on the couch of the little rental where Nursey and Chowder were staying, but after they stumbled into the house and managed to get Chowder into one of the rooms Nursey had sleepily and drunkenly said, “Just sleep with me Will, it’s a big bed.”

They hadn’t talked about it the next day, but Dex had slept like a baby with Nursey quietly snoring and his warm form next to him. He had woken before Nursey with Nursey’s head on his chest, drooling slightly.

Back at work on Monday Landon didn’t talk to Dex much, which didn’t bother him, but it wasn’t normal. He shrugged it off, figuring that Landon had realized that Dex wasn’t as cool as he thought. He didn’t see the longing looks that Landon shot at him, nor did he hear the bitterness in his voice when he asked how Nursey was doing.

 

**Five**

It wasn’t that Dex wasn’t excited for the season to start, it was just that once the season started they couldn't have epic parties anymore. He figured he’d get sick of them eventually, but for now he didn’t mind living at the Haus on kegster nights, he usually just passed out on Nursey’s bed and woke with Nursey in bed with him, neither of them mentioning it later.

It was their last party before the season officially started, Ransom and Holster came back, as had Shitty and Lardo, even Jack was there accompanied by a couple rookies from the Falcs.

Dex accepted a drink from Nursey before Nursey leaned  against the wall and said, “It’s like the old days.”

Across the crowded room Dex saw Shitty pick Lardo up in celebration while Rans and Holster both hung their heads in mock shame, Bitty was dancing to Beyonce with one of the volleyball players, Chowder was clearly already wasted and sitting with Farmer on the couch, “Yeah, it really is.”

“It’s cool that Jack brought a couple Falcs with him,” Nursey said, like he was fishing for something, but Dex wasn’t sure what.

Dex shrugged and took a sip of the drink that Nurse had handed him. It took everything in him to not spit it back out, “Tub juice, Derek? Really?”

“You look like you could use something stronger than beer,” Nursey said with a shit eating grin, “Plus you’re going to need something to deal with drunk Chowder singing all night.”

“True,” Dex said, before tipping the contents of the cup into his mouth and swallowing. They stood together for another twenty minutes or so, chirping back and forth and making fun of Holster’s form in beer pong.

“You’ve got an admirer,” Nursey said, nodding his head toward the two rookie Falcs that Jack had brought with him, “Smitty’s been watching you all night.”

“You always think people are checking me out,” Dex muttered, taking another sip of his drink to give himself something to do.

“Because they _are_ ,” Nurse said with a sigh, pushing off the wall and taking Dex’s cup, “One day you’ll actually see it.”

Nursey walked away at that, leaving Dex as alone as someone could be at a house party. Not ten seconds after Nurse left Smitty sidled over to him with a smile, “Need a drink, Will?”

Dex had met Smitty a few weeks prior at a dinner party that Jack and Bitty had hosted in Providence, but they hadn’t talked much. Dex had spent most of that night arguing about politics with Nursey. Well not arguing, more like loudly agreeing with each other and when they didn't agree they compromised. Nursey had conceded a few points and so had Dex. They were growing.

“Uh, I think that Derek’s grabbing me one,” Dex said, craning his neck to find Nursey in the crowd. He had gotten pulled aside by Jack. “He’ll be back soon.”

“Ah,” Smitty said, looking down for a second. “Are you two, uh, dating?”

“What? Nursey and me?” Dex asked with a laugh, watching the way Derek’s eyes crinkled when he laughed, “We’re roommates.”

“That all then?” Smitty asked, a smile pulling at his mouth. He stepped a little closer to Dex, probably to avoid the drunken couple next to them, “So you like playing for Samwell then? Jack talks about you guys all the time.”

Dex smiled fondly at the idea of Jack talking about his time at Samwell, “Jack’s a great guy, we were lucky to have played with him.”

“We really were,” Nursey said, sliding between Dex and Smitty and grinning his charming smile.

Smitty’s smile stiffened as he looked between Dex and Nursey before finishing his own drink, “You’ll come to a game this year, right Dex?”

“Sure, we’ve got plans to go to at least two games this season,” Dex said with a nod, “Jack got us tickets.”

“I could get you tickets,” Smitty said casually, “If you wanted.”

“I mean sure, I’ll never pass up free tickets,” Dex said, “I bet the guys would love to go to a game.”

Smitty let out a breath, “I meant-”

“Let it go bro,” Nursey said with a little shake of his head.

“Yeah okay,” Smitty said after a beat, “I’m gonna go. It was nice talking to you.”

“What was that about?” Dex asked when Smitty walked away, looking at Nursey for a second before he looked into his empty cup.

Nursey smiled fondly and said, “I’ll tell you when you’re older Will.”

He wrapped his arm around Dex’s shoulder and added, “Come on, let’s get another drink. We can’t have either of us sober at the last Kegster before the season starts.”

 **\+ One**  

“This is a terrible idea,” Dex said as he laced his skates, looking around the locker room at the other NHL prospects, Nursey and Chowder on either side of him, “I never should have accepted the invitation to play in this game.”

Chowder opened his mouth but Nursey shook his head and said, “Poindexter, how many times have you kicked my ass in practice? How many times have you _saved_ my ass during games?”

Dex just shrugged, not looking up from his skates so Nursey pressed forward, “You’re one of the best d-men in the fucking NCAA Will, you deserve to be here just like Chowder and me.”

There wasn’t any time to respond, the coach for their team walked into the locker room and everyone went quiet. It wasn’t like the game today or the drills yesterday meant much, it was just one more time for NHL scouts to look at the best college players in the NCAA, but Dex still didn’t think he belonged in that group.

Dex barely heard what the coach said, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he and Nursey were on the same line. He didn’t think he would have been able to get on the ice without Nurse next to him.

“Come on Poindexter, we’ve got a game to win,” Nursey bumped his shoulder against Dex’s and Dex felt his stomach unclench.

Chowder gave them both a huge smile before he put his helmet on and they all started down the hallway that led to the ice.

Once his skates hit the ice Dex’s head cleared. It was just another game, nothing more. He slammed the other team into the boards, he backed Nursey up when he needed it, he tackled Nursey when he scored off of Dex’s assist.

Nursey roughly checked a guy into the boards, harder than he normally would have towards the end of the third period. As they skated off the ice a minute later Dex asked, “What was that about?”

“What was what about?” Nurse feigned ignorance, not looking at Dex as he spoke, which made him look even more guilty.

“Why’d you hit that guy so hard at the end?” Dex asked, bumping his shoulder against Nursey as they walked down the hallway to the locker room, “Usually you reserve that kind of hit for someone who really deserves it.”

“Well maybe he deserved it,” Nurse shot back, not meeting Dex’s gaze.

Dex leveled Nursey with a look, grabbing his arm to stop him from walking into the locker room, “Derek.”

Nursey turned and looked at him after a few seconds, “He was talking about you. Don’t you remember him? Princeton? Number 15? He hits on you every time we play them.”

“ _That guy_?” Dex rolled his eyes, “He never hit on me, he always tried to get into my head. I blocked him out after the first time we played them.”

“Glad one of us could,” Nurse grumbled, “He’s an asshole.”

“Let’s just forget it, we’ve got a dinner to get to,” Dex pulled Nursey down the hall into the locker room where the rest of their team was already getting in the showers. Chowder smiled at them as they walked in, lifting Dex’s mood.

He wasn’t sure why Nursey had gotten so upset about a guy who had chirped him almost four years ago, it’s not like he spent all of his time thinking about people who had tried to get into his head during games, but he was glad that Nurse had his back.

It wouldn’t be long before they were going their separate ways, whether they both got drafted or got jobs, either way they’d probably be in different cities come this time next year. Dex didn’t want to think about that; he’d gotten used to Nursey constantly being in his space. In fact he kind of liked it.

After he showered and got dressed Dex looked at himself in the shitty mirror in the locker room, his hair still damp and his suit jacket looked a little tighter in the shoulders than he remembered.

“Looking fresh Poindexter,” Nurse ran a hand through Dex’s hair with a smile, “Gonna break some hearts tonight.”

Dex snorted, the only heart that he had ever broken was his own, but he leaned into Nursey’s touch anyways. Nurse raked his fingers through Dex’s hair again, fixing what he had messed up.

“Come on, let’s go,” Dex said, turning away from Nurse so he couldn’t see the pink in his cheeks.

The dinner was actually fun. Dex ran into a couple guys that he had played with in juniors, there was free beer, he talked to some coaches and recruiters, it was a good night. He caught Nursey’s eye a few times and couldn’t help but smile at how far they’d come.

“Hey,” A voice he didn’t recognize said, “You’re Poindexter from Samwell.”

Dex turned around and looked at a guy who looked vaguely familiar, “Yes?”

“Kyle O’Keefe,” The guy stuck his hand out, “Princeton.”

“Okay?” Dex shook the guy’s hand but really wasn’t sure why he was talking to him, then it hit him, “Oh you’re number 15.”

Kye grinner, “That’s me.”

“You took a hell of  a hit near the end of the game,” Dex smirked, a feeling like pride welling up inside him. “Hope Nurse didn’t bruise you too bad there.”

“Only my ego,” Kyle winked and Dex had a sudden sinking feeling that maybe Nurse had been right, that maybe this guy really had been hitting on him for years.

It wasn’t that Kyle wasn’t attractive or that Will wasn’t into guys, it was that, well, Derek had been _right_. And on top of all of that, Nurse had been defending Will’s honor or four years, he had spent games keeping this guy away from Dex because he knew that it would throw Dex off.

An arm, Nursey’s arm, wrapped itself around Dex’s shoulders, “Will, you left me all alone with a couple dudes from Andover, you know I hate being left alone with them bro.”

“Sorry,” Will shrugged, actually feeling a little sorry since Derek was clearly trying to save him from an uncomfortable conversation, “I’ll protect you from the big, bad prep school boys.”

“I didn’t realize you two were together,” Kyle’s eyes slid between them, “This all makes so much more sense.”

Will almost corrected him, but Nurse pinched his arm, “Well I couldn’t resist this guy, look at his freckles.”

“I have,” Kyle smirked and Will repressed a shudder.

“And now we’re done talking,” Derek pivoted, taking Will with him and they walked away, “I fucking hate that guy.”

“But why?” Will asked, ducking out from under Derek’s arm so he could face him. They were in the corner of the room, tucked nearly behind a large potted plant, “Why do you hate him so much?”

“You know why,” Derek huffed, leaning against the wall.

And Dex thought he might know why, but since he _clearly_ didn’t have an eye for when people were and weren’t hitting on him, he said, “Spell it out for me, Derek. I think we both know that I’m not good at this.”

“You really are pretty terrible at it,” Derek laughed and that’s what Will had wanted.

“So tell me why.”

“Because he was hitting on you, because everyone is _always_ hitting on you and you have no idea. Do you know how infuriating it is to watch everyone try to charm you? People are always fucking _touching_ you even when you clearly don’t like it, like they don’t know what consent is. And with that fucker, well, I can hit him into the boards for being a dick,” Nursey word vomited and Dex laugh. “I’m bearing my soul here and you’re laughing?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Dex leaned a little into Derek’s space, “It’s just, that was so unchill.”

“Oh fuck you, asshole,” Derek laughed though and Dex’s whole world got a little brighter. “I just, I don’t like it that you have no idea when people are hitting on you because that means you have no idea that I’m hitting on you.”

“So you’ve been hitting on me,” Dex leaned a little closer, a smile spreading across his face, “Just so we’re clear, if I had realized you were hitting on me I would have liked it.”

“You, you would have?” Derek swallowed, putting a hand on Dex’s shoulder.

“Yeah, and you have my enthusiastic consent if you want to touch me,” There was less than an inch of space between them now, “Do - do I have yours?”

“Fuck yeah,” Derek closed the gap, his lips meeting Dex’s in a soft kiss, nothing like Will had expected when he thought about kissing Derek.

He pressed Derek against the wall, his hands on Derek’s waist. It had definitely been worth the wait, because kissing Derek was like something out of a dream.

“Uh guys,” Chowder interrupted them, “Maybe take it to your room?”

“Shit,” Will laughed, resting his forehead against Nurse’s, not really caring if anyone saw him. He probably wasn’t going pro, this event didn’t matter to him, but it might to Derek, “Did anyone else see us?”

“Nah, you’re good,” Chris’s smile was so bright Dex felt like he was looking into the sun. “I’m glad you two figured it out.”

“Took Will long enough,” Derek nodded sagely, flicking Will on the arm. “Well we’re going to go. This thing is almost over right?”

“Technically it ended ten minutes ago,” Chris nodded. “You could get away with leaving, most of the NHL scouts left already, it’s mostly just us players.”

“See ya tomorrow then,” Derek all but dragged Will to their shared room, not that Will was complaining.

They tumbled into the room, “So are we gonna hop right into bed, because I’m usually not this easy, but I’ve wanted to do this for _years_.”

“I was actually thinking we could watch a movie and make out,” Derek smiled, soft and private, “Come on Poindexter, do you really think I’m gonna rush into this?”

“Nurse, I’ve seen you go into bathrooms at parties to hook up with people,” Will laughed, but changed into sweatpants all the same, “You rush into everything.”

“Only things that don’t matter,” Derek pulled him into bed and flipped on the TV, “I think Bitty’s show is on, want to watch that?”

“Yeah, sure,” Will tucked Derek to his chest, pressing a kiss to his forehead. It felt right, like maybe he hadn’t realized all those other people were hitting on him because he had been holding out for this.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](exhuastedpigeon.tumblr.com)


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